Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae Antibodies (ASCA)

Crohn's Disease (CD) Overview

	CD is a cause of inflammatory bowel disease
	Autoimmmune or infectious ( Mycobacterium paratuberculosis) origin
	M. paratuberculosis also present in gut of Ulcerative Colitis (UC) patients
	2 distinct clinical manifestations - perforating & non-perforating
	incidence approx 80/million newly diagnosed per year
	diagnosis currently by clinical & physical examination, endoscopy or colonoscopy (upper gastrointestinal radiograph was used but rarely now due to difficulties in eliminating barium tracer from these patients)
	treatment involves corticosteroids, empirical antibiotic application, nutritional support - some require surgical intervention

ASCA

	Antibodies to yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ASCA) have been shown to be strongly associated with inflammatory processes of the intestine.
	ASCA is valuable in distinguishing Crohn's disease from Ulcerative Colitis
	IgG and IgA ASCA are present in high titres in Crohn's Disease but not Ulcerative Colitis or normal patients
	IgG level (and overall sensitivity) is higher in patients with small bowel involvement than in those with large bowel involvement only (IgA is the same for both)
	IgG antibodies can be present in Coeliac disease but these patients will not normally have IgA ASCA
	IgG ASCA 60% sensitive, 85% specific for CD
	IgA ASCA 55% sensitive, 95% specific for CD
	Can be used in combination with pANCA (peripheral Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody) to increase specificity to >95%. pANCA positive for UC not for CD.

Product  Details
-Genesis ASCA IgA ELISA kit 96T (12x8)  Part  #  GD79 
-Genesis ASCA IgG ELISA kit 96T (12x8)  Part  #  GD78